Starting position #319
Back-rank setup: NQRKRNBB
SP-319 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and e1, the queen on b1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 352.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 72 Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 269 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (59 half-moves): +22 → +8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #352
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1109 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to d3 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to b3 (a2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b6 (g1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e2 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to e2 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: queen to b6 (a5) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Mate in 2: queen to b7 (b5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: queen to f8 (g8·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to f5 (c2·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 4
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Commentary
Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on g1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; the second knight is on f1. The queen is on b1, and the engine's line runs c3 g6 g4 c6 e3 Nb6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.